"Ziva, we're back" She opened her eyes and turned to face Tony staring into his face seeing the concern dance in his eyes. She undid her seatbelt, slide out of the car and walked over to where Gibbs was waiting by the elevator. The doors were open. "Can I take the stairs, please" she sounded like a child, her eyes on the floor.
"Why?" Ziva said nothing, just looked at the floor.
"Tony go and tell Vance we have her and then you should probably tell Abby before she gets herself even more wound up"
He stepped into the elevator keeping his eyes on Ziva until the doors closed. Gibbs headed for the stairs and Ziva followed him down until they reached interrogation. "Number five please Ziva"
She entered the room without question and was not surprised when Gibbs did not follow her in. She started to pace back and forth across the small room, ignoring the chair until she slumped onto the floor tucking herself up into the corner, legs drawn up, arms wrapped around them.
She stared at the carpet. Ziva had no watch and no window, she did not know how much time had passed before Gibbs pushed into the room.
"What the hell did you think you were playing at. You never lay a hand on a suspect" He shouted, not looking at her. Ziva said nothing. Gibbs spun round eyes going to the empty chair then searching the room.
"The chair Ziva" he kicked it with his foot. Ziva considered staying where she was but knew it would just entail more questions. She rose with a natural grace and sat in the chair.
"Well?"
"I am sorry, I should not have done that, I overreacted completely in the situation. It will not happen again"
Ziva sounded different. Gibbs looked at her, he saw the tension in her shoulders. She was speaking to him the way she spoke to her father. Gibbs sighed.
"It seems you have a lot to thank McGee for Ziva" Now she just looked confused.
"He managed to convince Adil that it would be better for him not to mention what happened, without suffocating him." The emphasis was clearly placed on the last bit of the sentence.
"Wait here there is some paperwork you need to sign" Gibbs left just as he had arrived and Ziva slunk back to the corner. At least she would not be losing her job, she had a lot to thank McGee for.